Promising practices for online professional learning

Abstract

This study took place at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when most schools worldwide were making the transition to online teaching and learning. Through this single-case study design, the study examined the learning experiences of a group of teachers engaged in interactive, inquiry-based professional learning focused on math, making and coding during a shift to emergency remote teaching. The primary objective was to identify promising practices for online professional learning (PL) focused on math and coding using a maker-pedagogies approach to teaching and learning, based on the teachers’ learning experiences. Study participants included 20 teachers from a rural school board in Northern Ontario, Canada. Findings indicated that the following may be considered as promising practices when developing and implementing virtual math and coding PL from a maker perspective. It is important to: a) balance sessions focused on specific math and coding content with more general sessions focused on learning the various maker-technology tools; b) include both synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities for the variety of teachers involved in the learning; c) include collaborative learning in the teacher PL and a virtual platform that can support this type of social learning; d) ensure the PL sessions are on-going as opposed to one-off or isolated sessions. This research suggests that online professional learning sessions need to consider three elements: the teacher, the content, and the learning environment and offers important recommendations for future work in this area.